✨ Friday, April 14th 2017✨

"Nah Eli, I don't know man. My pops not doing too well and my aunt might need me to help out at the house until things get back to normal."

I looked at one of my favorite students and shook my head. My temporary teaching assignment as a high school shop teacher was almost over and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to some of these kids. You could tell who needed the extra guidance or just a positive role model around, so I was inviting a few of them to join the mentorship program I was a part of, in hopes of keeping them on the right path.

"How about I talk to your aunt? I can see what she thinks about you joining the team and if she does need your help around the house, we can talk about you coming to do some work down at my shop."

Micah shook his head and let out a soft chuckle.

"C'mon Eli, I ain't no mechanic."

"Just call your aunt, I'll handle the rest." I laughed while getting up from my desk.

It was the end of the day, so like any other day when the bell rang, the kids vanished. I was shocked to still find Micah at his desk on his phone. I guess he was talking to his aunt, though, so I didn't say anything. I started getting my things together so I could leave once I was done talking to Micah and his aunt.

"Aight Eli, you asked for this. Remember that before you say no," Micah said as he approached my desk.

"What's up?"

"My aunt, Marley, is inviting you to dinner tonight; she was at work when I called but she's been hearing about you since I got to her house a week ago. Now she claims that she just wants to put a face to the name and get to know you a little before she agrees to leave me in your care." Micah and I shared a laugh and I couldn't help but shake my head.

"How old is your aunt, Micah?" I'd only dealt with grandparents like this.

"She's 26 but she acts old as hell bruh, I swear. Wait till you meet her. She even made me introduce her to my homeboy yesterday before we went to the courts. A brotha just wanted to go play some ball." Micah laughed while getting his school supplies together.

"I'm sure she means well, especially with all that's going on with your pops."

Micah didn't willingly inform me about his dad's condition and if I hadn't noticed the shift in his attitude earlier this week; I wouldn't have known to ask if everything was okay. Little did he know; I had a similar situation with my moms when I was around his age. Rehab helped her just like I knew it would help his dad. We had a long talk after class and I was sure that he'd be in a better space mentally afterwards. Knowing about his dad is what made me want him to join the mentoring program. When my mom was in rehab, I was out running the streets, giving my grandmother hell, eventually getting caught up with the wrong crowd I knew Micah was a good kid but I also knew how easy it was to get mixed up in trouble and I didn't want that for any of the young men I mentored.

"Yeah, Marley's cool, you'll like her." He smirked before dapping me up. "But I gotta go find my little sister, Eli, so I'll see you tonight for dinner. 8 pm bro, don't be late; she won't like you if you are."

Micah made sure I had his aunt's address and his phone number before he left the classroom. Once I was alone; I grabbed my things and headed towards the faculty parking lot. I hadn't been behind the wheel of my 2016 midnight blue Chevy Tahoe for two minutes before my phone started ringing. I smiled when I noticed it was my mother. I picked up and connected the phone to the car's Bluetooth speaker before making my way out of the parking lot.

"Hey ma, what's up?"

"Hey baby, have you heard from Natalie today?" The sound of Natalie's name coming from my mother in such a stressed tone made my face tense up. I clenched my jaw as I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Natalie was the mother of my three-year-old daughter, Isabella. We hadn't been together for about a year but my mother hated her since before Izzy was conceived. She saw something in Nat that I could only wish I had been smart enough to spot a long time ago. She was manipulative and deceptive. She was also allergic to keeping her legs closed. Natalie was single-handedly the reason why I was single today, a year after we broke up. I didn't trust women much, and I wasn't for opening up to someone the way I did with Nat only to be lied to, cheated on or none of that other shit that Nat put me through.

At this moment, the most important thing to me was making my mother and my daughter happy. Outside of those two ladies; my business and the young men I mentored came next. I didn't have the time to give myself to any woman at the moment and I planned on keeping it that way for a long time or at least until someone came along and made me feel like she was worth my time. I didn't see that happening any time soon.

"No, ma. Why, what did she do?" I sighed.

"She dropped Isabella off this morning and told me she'd be back in an hour to pick her up. It's been all day and I haven't as much as heard from the girl. Now, I don't have a problem with keeping Bella but I'd like to know what the hell is going on with her mother as well. The girl didn't look right when she came here, son."

I stopped at a red light and ran my hand down my face.

"I can come get Izzy, ma. I'll try calling Nat on my way over there. I'm sorry about all of this shit."

"Drive safe honey, and I'll let you know if I hear anything on my end. I love you, Elijah."

"Alright, love you too ma. See you in a minute."

As I made my way over to my mother's house, I tried calling Nat's cell phone a few times. After getting her voicemail three times in a row, I gave up on trying and continued my drive to my mom's house. This wasn't new when it came to Natalie; she'd often drop Isabella off with me and go missing for days on end without even calling to check in on her daughter. One of the main reasons I was looking into getting full custody of Isabella. She didn't deserve to have a mother as irresponsible as Natalie and having her ask for her mother or cry for Nat after two or three days of not seeing or hearing from her would only piss me off more and make matters worse.

When I pulled up to my mother's house, she was sitting in her favorite chair on her front porch while Isabella decorated the steps leading up to the front door with some sidewalk chalk. The sight alone made me smile. I got out of the car and made my way over to my favorite ladies.

"Daddy!!" Isabella yelled and made her way over to me. I swept her up in my arms and kissed her all over her face, causing her to giggle while trying to escape my embrace.

"I missed you, baby girl."

"I missed you, too, daddy." She smiled while playing with my beard as I made my way over to my mother, with her still in my arms.

"Were you able to reach her?" my mom asked as I let Izzy down so that she could go back to playing.

I shook my head, no, while pulling my mother into a hug.

"Nah ma, I don't know where this girl is, where she might be, none of that." I sighed while sitting down on the top step of her porch.

"Well, I called the lawyer already about this, so it's just helping your case in getting full custody. Don't sweat it, can't stress over what we can't control."

I nodded in agreement with my mother's words.

"Come on, I made lunch."

The mention of lunch reminded me of my dinner invite from Micah's aunt. I didn't want to miss out; simply because I gave Micah my word but I didn't know how his aunt would feel about me bringing a dinner date. I looked down at Isabella as we entered my mother's four-bedroom bungalow and decided to shoot Micah a text just to see how his aunt would feel about Isabella joining us for dinner.

Thankfully, I got a text not too long after I sent him one, saying everything was fine and Izzy was more than welcome to join. After having lunch with my mother, I got Isabella together so that we could go home and get ready for dinner. I decided on wiping her down instead of giving her a full-blown bath because she'd for sure be sleep before we even left the house. Once Izzy was dressed and ready to go, I realized I had an hour to get to Micah's aunt's house and she only lived 30 minutes away. Something told me that showing up early would impress Miss Marley, so I made sure I grabbed some stuff to keep Izzy entertained during the ride and we headed over to our dinner date.

"Ready baby girl?" I asked Isabella once we pulled into the driveway. I parked behind Micah's Impala and looked back at Isabella, who was wide awake watching some cartoon on her iPad.

She looked up at me when she noticed that the car had stopped.

"Where are we daddy?" I chuckled as I noticed her check her surroundings.

"We're having dinner at a friend's house. If you don't want to, we can go back home," I said in all seriousness.

"No, daddy." Izzy giggled. "I'm hungry."

I got out of the car and got Izzy out of her booster seat before locking the car up and carrying her to the front door, making sure to straighten her dress up before knocking on the door. I didn't know what Micah's aunt did for a living but she had to be successful in whatever it was that she did. Just the outside of the house had me impressed especially when I remembered that she was only 26. Shit, I just moved out of my mom's spot last year before I turned 28.

The door opening snatched me out of my thoughts.

"You must be Mr. Elijah and this must be Miss Isabella. Glad you two could make it. I'm Marley." She smiled up at me and motioned for me to come inside.

The place smelled like she had a professional chef in that kitchen throwing down.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Marley. Say hello to Marley, Izzy," I instructed Isabella, who smiled while giving Marley an excited wave.

"Hi, Miss Marley!"

Marley made small talk about how cute Isabella was as she led the way to what had to be the den. I sat Isabella down on the couch before taking the seat beside her. Marley sat down on the other end of the couch and looked my way with a smirk.

"What did I do?" I laughed nervously. This woman was obviously successful and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a mix of impressed and intimidated at the moment, so her looking at me this way had me feeling a little strange.

"Nothing, just glad you could make it and you're early. Impressive." She smirked my way before Micah and his sister Miracle entered the room.

"Hey, Mr. Eli." Miracle smiled before taking a seat in a lone moon chair in the corner of the room.

"Hey, Miracle." I waved her way.

"Hey Isabella!" Micah greeted my daughter before greeting me.

"Oh, she is so adorable." Miracle smiled as Micah picked Isabella up in his arms.

Isabella had met Micah once before, after Natalie dropped her off at the school in the middle of shop class, a few weeks back.

"Dinner won't be ready for another 20 minutes but you're welcome to join me in the kitchen Elijah." Marley stood up and placed her hands into the pockets of her joggers.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. Don't break my baby y'all," I warned Micah and Miracle with a smirk.

"She's good man, go ahead." Micah laughed.

"I'll be back, baby girl." I pinched Izzy's cheek before following Marley out of the room.

"Okay daddy," Izzy sang while waving me off.

"How old is your daughter?" Marley asked once we made it to the kitchen.

"3 going on 30," I chuckled while taking a seat on one of the barstools at the breakfast bar.

"She really is adorable. She looks just like you, too, might I add."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, that's all me."

"Is her mom around?" Marley asked while moving around the kitchen.

"She's....around. We're not together anymore, so it's gotten harder to keep up with her."

She nodded and pulled two water bottles out of the refrigerator, handing one to me.

I stopped and actually took note of the smell in the kitchen. This girl was throwing down and this smell was all too familiar. I felt like I was in my grandmother's house. "Ropa vieja?" I smirked at Marley.

"How'd you know?" She giggled while opening the pot that I guess the dish was in. It had to have been because the aroma got stronger.

"Cuban grandmother." I laughed and shook my head. "You are taking me back with this for real."

"Well, I'm glad you're familiar with this dish because as tempted as I am to dig in and give it a taste test, I can't." She sighed while pulling a small glass saucer out of the dishwasher. "Wanna taste it for me?"

"Hell yeah... uh, my bad...I mean...yeah." I let out a nervous laugh before sitting up in my seat. I felt like I was cussin in front of my granny or some shit. I sat and watched her place a little bit of the beef on the plate. "You don't eat beef?" I asked as she placed the plate in front of me.

"I'm vegan but with Micah and Miracle living with me, I'm back to making meat." She sat down across from me and waited for my reaction.

"How did you manage to perfect this dish if you don't eat meat?" I asked while finishing the small sample off.

"I wasn't always vegan."

"How long?"

"For about two years now. I could actually duplicate this dish vegan-style but I don't want to have to hurt Micah again." Marley laughed while checking on the rice and beans.

"Okay, so you can cook your ass off. You're obviously a little on the successful side, and you're a gorgeous woman. Where is your husband hiding at Marley?" Although I chuckled, I was beyond serious. This girl had to be bat shit crazy or something, for her ring finger to still be bare.

"Well, thanks for the compliments, Elijah. I'm not single, though." She sent a smile my way before she took some plates down from the cabinet and rinsed them off.

I made my way over to where she was and helped her get everything together.

"Well, if he's smart, your last name won't be Wright for much longer." I don't know why I was trying to shoot my shot with this woman. She wasn't single and she was probably two seconds away from putting me in my place.

Marley looked over at me and smirked. "This dinner is for me to get to know you, not the other way around, Elijah."

I nodded and put my hands up in surrender.

"Want to help me set the table?"

"Yeah, no problem."

She handed me a dish of white rice and black beans; I followed her lead in plating the food. Once we had everything on the plates, I noticed what had to have been her plate with just white rice, black beans, some kind of gravy on the rice and what looked like a hearty ass empanada on the side. Marley must have caught me eyeing her plate because she giggled before heading back to the stove.

"Want one?" She called over to me.

"What's in it?" I sat down in the seat, beside the plate we made for Izzy.

"Jackfruit and a spicy mango salsa." She held one up so I could see it.

"Yeah, why not. I'll try one ma." I chuckled and shook my head. "Tryna make me vegan and shit."

It took everything in me not to dig into my plate but Marley seemed like the type to pop you if you ate before blessing the table and shit. She returned shortly, with Isabella in her arms and Micah and Miracle followed behind her. Micah rubbed his hands together and sat down across from me with a smirk on his face.

"Bet you glad you came now, this shit bout to be on point."

"Watch your mouth MJ, we don't need Isabella picking up on your bad vocabulary," Marley warned while handing Isabella to me.

Once everyone was seated, Miracle blessed the food and we were finally ready to dive in. I decided to try the lil fruity vegan empanada first and if the ropa vieja wasn't enough to make me love Marley, this shit had me ready to risk it all.

"How did you do this?" I asked Marley while holding the empanada up.

"I know a thing or two." She giggled while eating her food.

"You know more than that." I laughed while letting Isabella taste the empanada. She took a bite and looked up at me with wide eyes. "You like it, mama?"

She nodded her head before looking over at Marley. "Thank you, Miss Marley; you can cook." She smiled wide.

"Thank you, baby girl. I'm glad you like it."

After eating in silence for a few minutes, Marley broke the silence by starting her questioning.

"So Elijah, Micah told me about a program you want him to join?" she started off while looking between Micah and me.

"Yeah, I'm sure Micah told you about my temporary position as his shop teacher?" She nodded. "Well, my assignment is almost over and after two months of knowing your nephew, I've grown to look at him as a younger brother. Hell, family in general. It was your brother's condition that made me want to get him to join the mentor program I have. I think it'll be a good way to keep him on the right path while going through a stressful situation that I'm all too familiar with. Now, he told me that he might have to help around here and help bring money in?"

"I would never make him do that." Marley looked over at Micah and sent a soft punch to his arm. "You don't owe me for staying here, Micah. I'm your aunt; we're family," she reminded him.

"Now, I was going to offer him a job at my auto shop if he needed it." I smirked in Micah's direction, remembering him say he wasn't a mechanic. "He'd be getting paid weekly to learn a trade."

Marley nodded and smiled at me.

"I like the sound of that. Miracle has been shadowing me at my salon for the past week and I'd rather Micah be somewhere with people I can trust and know have his best interest at heart."

"So Micah, what do you want to do? Join the mentor program or come work with me down at the shop?" I smiled up at him waiting for a response.

"I'll come down to the shop with you bro. I'd rather do it that way anyway." He nodded while I reached across the table to dap him up.

"I still can't believe you thought I was going to ask you to help around the house in any way," Marley scoffed while finishing her food up.

Once everyone was done eating, Miracle and Marley cleared the table only to return with dessert. I mean really if this girl wasn't single, where the fuck was her man at. It was a Friday night and this woman was at home throwing the fuck down. I'm talking wifey meals and his ass was missing in action. Couldn't be me; shit, wouldn't be me.

For dessert, Marley made some chocolate-banana-cream crepes, with the help of Miracle, and they were on point. I was convinced this woman could cook anything.

"What can't you cook?" I asked while sharing my crepe with Isabella.

"I don't know..." Marley giggled while taking a bite out of her crepe.

"She can literally make anything you ask her bro; I tried it." Micah laughed.

After dinner, your girl Marley hooked my ass up with enough leftovers to feed me and Izzy for an entire weekend. I thanked her about ten times on our way to the front door, causing her to laugh and shake her head at me.

"I really do appreciate this," I told her while putting Isabella in her booster seat.

She handed me the Tupperware bowls that held our leftovers and smiled.

"Don't mention it. I enjoyed you two tonight and seeing as you're family now, I'm sure this won't be the last time we see you or sweet little Bella."